


A nightmare and a hug

by moreteapls



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Post Season 1, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:34:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27269539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moreteapls/pseuds/moreteapls
Summary: Luz has a nightmare and goes to sleep with Eda for comfort.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 102





	A nightmare and a hug

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I can't believe this has to be said but I'm going to say it because some of you are real creeps. Nothing on this fic is intended to be read as romantic. This is all 100% familial love and if you interpret it in any romantic way you're sick. That's all, hope you enjoy!

“Mum?” Luz blinks twice, not believing her eyes. But the vision of her mother smiling fondly at her doesn’t disappear. “Is that really you?” 

Camila opens her arms in invitation, her smile growing wider. “Sí m’ija. Ven aquí y dale un abrazo a tu madre que te ha extrañado,” she says with a soft voice. 

Luz runs towards her, not being able to contain her tears. It had been too long since she had last got to hug her. But just as her arms are about to meet hers, the image of her mum vanishes into thin air, leaving a trail of white smoke in its place. Luz stares at it confused at first, feeling a knot starting to grow on her throat upon the realization that it wasn’t really her mother. 

She stays there, too stunned to move, as the smoke starts to shift into something new. Luz stares at it in horror, recognizing the new shape before it had even revealed its true form. She clenches her fists as Emperor Belos appears in front of her, letting out a laugh that sends shivers to every corner of her body. 

Luz frowns. She’s been through this already, yesterday. And the night before. And the night before that one. She closes her eyes, reminding herself that it’s just a nightmare, repeating those words on her mind:

_It’s just a nightmare, just a nightmare, a nightmare…_

Sweat covers her whole body as she jumps out of the bed, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. King quickly turns to look at her with a concerned look as he usually does. He doesn’t ask if she’s doing alright anymore, the nightmares having become a sort of habit by then. He simply stands up and curls closer to her, hoping his presence will help somehow. 

Luz pats him on the back, a small smile of gratitude on her face. She looks around the room for a distraction, but she can barely see anything through the darkness. She soon realizes it’s going to take her a while to be able to sleep again, her pulse still agitated and the memory of her mum still aching in the back of her mind. 

She sighs, “King,” she whispers to him, the demon attentively opening an eye in response, “do you think Eda will let me sleep with her tonight? I’m still kinda freaked out about the nightmare…” 

King raises his head to meet her gaze at the question, unsure about what to answer at first. “She gets kind of grumpy at night,” he finally says, “but I think she will. She cares about you, you know?” 

Luz gives him a faint smile, “then let’s go.” King jumps into her arms as she stands up, slowly making her way towards Eda’s room. The door is open and Luz can already see her from the frame, wrapped around a blanket on her nest. She’s softly snoring, her mouth wide open and a small trail of saliva coming out of it. She looks so peaceful that for a moment Luz considers going back to her room without bothering her. But the thought of being alone in the dark again quickly makes up her mind. 

“Eda,” she whispers, softly patting her elbow. The Owl Lady doesn’t react at first, seemingly unaffected. Luz calls her name again, a little bit louder this time, and Eda slowly opens her eyes, frowning at the sight of Luz and King in front of her, clearly confused at the situation. 

“What’s going on?” she asks, unable to hide her slight irritation upon being woken up in the middle of the night. 

Luz gulps, already second guessing herself. “I just… had a bad dream and couldn’t sleep…” she says, too embarrassed to actually suggest the idea of sleeping with her. 

Eda gives her an understanding smile. She moves to one side of the nest to make space and raises the blanket, “get in kiddo,” she finally says. Luz beams at the invitation, quickly getting inside alongside King. Eda clearly hasn’t built it with the idea of sharing it with someone though, so there isn’t much space for the three of them. She has no option but to settle her head on top of Luz’s one, wrapping her arms around her. She looks down at the kid for a moment, making sure she’s comfortable with the touch, and she finds Luz with her eyes already closed and a smile on her face, holding King tightly against her chest. 

“Thanks Eda,” she finally says, her voice full of gratitude. 

“Don’t mention it kiddo.” 

Luz smile fades away as the image of her mother comes to her mind once more. She frowns, suddenly feeling an immense emptiness growing up inside of her. She really doesn’t want to bother Eda, but she can’t stop the words from coming out of her mouth either, desperate to find some comfort in the Owl Lady. 

“Eda?” she whispers, “are you awake?” 

“Hm?” she muffles, still half-asleep. 

“I miss my mum.” 

Eda tenses at the words, unsure of that to say. She isn’t stupid, she knows that since the portal to the human realm was destroyed Luz has been acting different. No matter how good the kid is at pretending everything is alright, Eda notices. She notices how her eyes don’t have the same spark of joy when nobody is around. And how Luz mentions her mum much more often than before, and how she seems to have grown more clingy than usual around Eda. 

“I know kid,” she finally says, her tone defeated. She wishes she could do more to help Luz, but she knows that there’s not much she can do about it for the moment. “We’ll find a way back to her, I promise.” 

“I know, I just…” Luz stops, realizing her voice is cracking, tears quickly starting to come out of her face, “I just wish I could give her a hug.” 

Eda feels her chest growing heavier, heartbroken to hear Luz in such state. She hugs her tighter, hoping that the embrace will transmit all of her love to her, that it will comfort her when she can’t find the right words to say. It seems to work as she feels Luz relax a little beneath her. 

“I- I’m sorry,” the child says, cleaning away the tears with her wrists. 

“Don’t apologize Luz, it’s alright to miss her.” 

“I know, it’s just that,” she sighs, trying to find the right words. “You’ve always taken care of me. You gave me a home here and I- I don’t want to seem like I’m an ungrateful for that. King and you have become my family as well. I just can’t help but miss her sometimes.” 

Eda smiles at the confession. In other circumstances she might have made a joke to try to lighten up the mood, to try to avoid so much sentimentality, but she finds herself being so moved by the kid’s words, so full of love and affection towards her, that she allows herself to be soft this time. It is something she finds herself doing a lot lately around Luz, being more open about her feelings. In a way, she feels like the kid has helped her recover a part of herself she thought she had lost a long time ago. Being a wild witch isn’t easy after all. Eda knew loneliness was a price to pay for freedom, being casted away from society, being misunderstood, judged, even feared. She had learned to deal with it in time, convinced herself that she didn’t need anyone else, that she was happy enough with just King by her side. She had forgotten what was to love, and to be loved in return, by others. And now that Luz is here to remind her about it, she feels all of her emotional walls crumbling down in front of her. 

“I’ll never think you’re ungrateful for missing your mother Luz. I don’t want you to ever feel like you need to avoid talking about her with me. She’s your family, just as much as we are.” She feels Luz nodding under her, her body growing lighter upon hearing Eda speak. 

“Now let’s get some rest, you won’t be able to teach me anything tomorrow if you don’t sleep.” She gives her kid a peck on the forehead, putting a small smile on Luz’s face. 

“Thanks Eda, I love you.” 

The Owl Lady closes her eyes, feeling the exhaustion of the conversation taking a toll on her body already. As much as she likes to think she does a good job at handling emotions, Eda can’t deny it’s still something she needs to get accustomed to. 

“I love you too, kiddo.”

And pressing herself against Eda’s chest, Luz falls asleep within minutes, knowing that she will be in good hands if any bad dreams try to mess with her again.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @theowlady !


End file.
